Raúl Grijalva

Raúl Grijalva began his career in public service as a community organizer in Tucson and carried that commitment through his life. From 1974 to 1986, he served on the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board, including six years as chairman. In 1988, he was elected to the Pima County Board of Supervisors, where he served for the next 15 years, chairing the Board for two of those years. Raúl resigned his seat on the Board of Supervisors in 2002 to seek office in Arizona’s newly created Seventh Congressional District and went on to represent Arizona’s 3rd congressional district from 2003 until his passing.

Throughout his career, Raúl fought for underrepresented voices. The passion that drove him as a School Board member to advance bilingual education also motivated his push for bond funding to reinvest in older, poorer neighborhoods as a County Supervisor. In Congress, he focused on reforming the immigration system, ensuring livable wages for American workers, and creating land protections to safeguard public resources for future generations.

In 2018, Raúl became Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee. He also served on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, was Chairman Emeritus of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and was a long-standing member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. His tenure is remembered for his advocacy, mentorship, and unwavering focus on the communities he represented.

GRIJALVA, Raúl M., (father of Adelita S. Grijalva), a Representative from Arizona; born in Tucson, Pima County, Ariz., February 19, 1948; graduated from Sunnyside High School, Tucson, Ariz., 1967; B.A., University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz., 1986; member of the Tucson, Ariz., Unified School Board, 1974-1986; Pima County, Ariz. supervisor, 1989-2002; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Eighth and to the eleven succeeding Congresses; served until his death on March 13, 2025 (January 3, 2003-March 13, 2025); chair, Committee on Natural Resources (One Hundred Sixteenth and One Hundred Seventeenth Congresses); died on March 13, 2025, in Tucson, Ariz.; remains were cremated.